Follow Me to the Wall of Death
by IggyKoopa2
Summary: A hunter-gatherer and the protégé of a rescue guild whose members can barely make enough to eat. These two pokémon end up being thrown into a fiery inter-guild conflict that can only end in disaster.
1. Off the Beaten Track

**Follow Me to the Wall of Death**

 **Chapter 1: Off the Beaten Track**

I pulled the hood of my cloak further over my head to protect me from the rainfall while I hauled my bag through the forest. My home wasn't far off - something which I was rather thankful for, as those two items of cloth were becoming increasingly waterlogged with every passing second. I kept my head down, stepping around the puddles that were collecting on the ground - puddles that were soon to become a mess of mud.

I approached my 'home' - it was really just a cave, but it was good enough for a hunter-gatherer like myself. I could hear the sound of rushing water from the nearby waterfall; a sound that I had long since associated with this place. The mouth of the cave was obscured by the branches of a couple large trees, and just as I was about to brush them aside, a rustling of leaves caught my attention and made the spines on my head stand on end. It wasn't a rustling caused by wind – rather, it sounded distinctly like another pokémon. I stopped in place, staring in the direction of the sound.

"Uh... hi?" a voice meekly said, its sound barely audible over that of the waterfall and the rain. Its owner emerged from a shadow - a mawile, looking about as timid as the tone of his voice suggested. I said nothing, still sizing him up, which prompted him to continue. "...Do you live here?"

"Yes," I responded, my voice as low-key as his. After a moment, having determined that the mawile wasn't a threat, I swept the branches aside and began to step forward. Then, without thinking: "Do you need shelter from the rain?

* * *

I set my now-soaked bag and cloak down on the floor and walked over to my pile of dry branches, beginning to build a fire. With us both inside, I was becoming more comfortable making conversation. "So, how did you find this place?"

"I... um..." He struggled to come up with anything for a long moment, before: "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to come across it, I just found it while I was walking and I..."

He trailed off, and I stood in place, staring at him. Did I really come off as that intimidating...? I'm a chespin, for god's sake, I'm practically the least menacing pokémon around!

"...It's not a problem," I managed to get out. "I just wasn't expecting to come across anyone friendly, is all."

"Ah, yes... there have been more and more dangerous pokémon around lately, huh...?"

I had no response, so I grabbed my bag and tossed it in his direction. "Here," I said, "I have some berries. Don't eat them all. You can stay here until the storm passes."

"Wait, really?! You're just gonna let me eat your food?"

"Sure," I said, keeping my voice just as level as I had been throughout the entire conversation. "That's why I told you not to eat all of it." Then another thought crossed my mind: "What's your name, anyway, kid?"

"Roy. And you?"

"Luke."

"Well then," he said, extending a hand to me with a bright smile on his face, "It's nice to meet you!"

I hesitated. Friends... he didn't outright say it, but it was clear that he was implying it, and... I didn't really have any friends. I lived in isolation, after all, and I was content that way, being happy in the company of myself.

Regardless, I shook his hand and made a noise resembling that of acknowledgment, if only out of politeness.

"So , uh... you need help with the fire?"

"No, I'm fine." I began to walk toward my pile of stuff - pretty much the only man-made things I owned. "I have some firestarters to do the job for me." Never mind that matches would suffice, but when there are items made specifically for the purpose of starting fires, they're worth having.

After setting off the starter, I watched as the flame migrated from the kindling to the firewood and began radiating heat. I sat down a few yards from it and my new 'friend' Roy sat next to me.

"I've been wanting to join a rescue team for some time..."

Well, that was unprompted. I braced myself for the incoming life story as he continued speaking.

"I've been doing some odd jobs around the local rescue guild lately - unpaid, of course, because they really can't afford to pay me - but with the way they have the teams set up, they can't put me on one without it being a huge pain in the neck for everybody! Basically the only thing I can do is wait for someone else to join solo, which ain't gonna happen any time soon."

I had nothing to say, so I ended up just making another grunt of acknowledgment. He turned to face me and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry! Didn't mean to lay it all on you like that. I just needed to set my thoughts straight, y'know?"

"Oh, no, it's fine," I responded in spite of myself. Silence took over, and we were left watching the fire and eating as I organized my thoughts for the near future.

"What about you?" Roy then said, out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"Well, clearly you have good survival skills to be living alone out here; that alone makes you a really valuable rescuer. And, no offense, but... you don't look like you have a whole lot to leave behind. You'd be perfect in the rescue guild!"

"I, uh..." I hadn't considered the thought before. Sure, I was quite capable, but I wasn't a fan of having company, and being in a rescue team would be a big commitment-

"Roy? You in there?" This was a new voice - a female one - and my quills instantly pricked up. This time, two pokémon showed up: a lucario and a blue-eyed mawile, the latter of whom carried a sword in a sheath strapped to their back. The one bearing the sword prepared to draw it, but Roy, sensing the tension, stepped in between us.

"Hold up!" he yelled. "He's friendly and they're friendly! You don't need to fight!"

"Well, okay then," I said as we both stood down. "I suppose it's only right for me to let you in out of the rain as well." I turned to Roy. "Friends of yours?"

"People from the guild. These two are actually the toughest fighters and are part of a four-person team, but they often split up for smaller jobs like..."

"...Like looking for you after you take hours running a simple errand?" the blue-eyed one finished.

"I, um, I'm sorry, I-"

"Nah, I'm kidding. I totally get it; the storm slowed you down, you found a place to take shelter. It's fine, really!" She then turned to me. "I'm Eva, and this," she gestured to the lucario, "is Devon."

"Uh, nice to meet you," I said, still rather blindsided by their sudden appearance. "I'm Luke."

"Anyway," Devon spoke up, "As much as we'd all like to stay in here and wait for the rain to pass, we really should get going before Charizard starts worrying about us as well. And so as to not intrude on this chespin here either."

"Okay..." Roy said, seeming none too thrilled to have to go back outside.

"Wait," I said, just as they were preparing to leave. "I'm coming with you. To the guild."

Roy's eyes lit up. "Wait, does that mean you're-"

"Yeah. I'm joining the rescue guild. You've convinced me."

Devon smiled. "Well then. I imagine Charizard will be pleased to have a new recruit. Come on, let's go."

After a couple minutes spent putting out my fire, we were on the proverbial road, with me following the two rescuers through the territory that was oh so familiar to me. And although I was expecting Roy to excitedly inform me of every facet of the guild, he actually kept quiet, preferring to 'let me find out on my own.'

A good amount of time later, our destination came into view. It was a reasonably simple wooden building sitting on top of a hill with nothing else around. The air around it stood still, and the building itself looked almost vacant, even abandoned. Nevertheless, it seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary to the other three, so I simply followed their lead, walking into the guild hall that would undoubtedly mark the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

How exciting.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Finally, I'm actually getting some progress done on a fic! Any criticism would be greatly appreciated; I keep feeling as if I'm doing something wrong but I can't quite figure out what.


	2. Get Your Fight On

**Follow Me to the Wall of Death**

 **Chapter 2: Get Your Fight On**

I - an ordinary chespin, suddenly pulled from the status quo - arrived at the local rescue guild hall, accompanied by a lucario and two mawiles who had brought me here.

"We're back!" the blue-eyed mawile - Eva - sang. "And we've brought along a newbie!"

As we stepped inside, a charizard greeted us - presumably the one who the others had mentioned was their guild leader.

"Welcome back!" she chirped in a bright voice uncharacteristic of a charizard. "Is this the newbie in question?"

I nodded wordlessly. "Rescue team?" she probed, and I nodded again. "Well, you're in luck! Roy here has been searching for a partner for some time."

"Yeah, I heard about that..."

"So why don't the both of you come into my office and we can work on making your new team official?"

Roy shot me a brief glance, and the anxious smile on his face told me just how much he appreciated my decision - that I was finally letting his dream of becoming a rescuer come true.

Pulling my thoughts back to business, though, we made our way into Charizard's office, which also seemed to double as her living quarters. The desk, along with the chair sitting behind it, was the room's central element, with a bed in the back corner and bookshelves along that wall. The room seemed quaint, and certainly more decorated than the little I'd seen of the rest of the base, but then again it figures that the leader's room is like this.

Charizard herself sat across from us, but with mine and Roy's diminutive heights, we both elected to stand.

"Alright then," she said, "I've already done this for Roy, so I'll only be asking you the questions, Chespin. First, your name, for bookkeeping."

"Luke."

"Good. Now... what'll follow is an interview of sorts. Even though we're not exactly a popular organization for people to join, we do have some standards of quality control. After all, I've personally seen what happens when you just let anybody and everybody join...

"So. Why, exactly, are you joining the guild?"

I paused, considering and carefully choosing my words. "I guess... I'm lost, really. I don't know where I belong, and the rescue team people I've met have been such good people that I thought joining them would... lead to some sort of self-improvement." It was exaggerated, sure, but I knew that I really had to sell myself up to get the gig.

"Okay..." she said, appearing to be mulling over her next question. "Would you say you have something to prove, or...?"

"If anything, I have something to prove to myself. I... I want to show myself that I really am good for something, since I've spent most of my life doing nothing in particular."

"Would you perhaps say that you're... bettering your karma by doing this? By helping other people?"

"Well... yeah, I guess you could say that," I said as my mind screamed that I was being backed into a corner. "I've always had sort of a live-and-let-live attitude in life, and... yeah, I sort of want to change that now and start doing good."

Charizard considered this as our conversation stalled. We sat there in silence for a solid half-minute before she spoke again. "No offense, but don't you think you might be a little selfish with all of this?"

"Huh?"

"Well, everything you've said so far has been about yourself. You want to better yourself, and helping out people is just one way of accomplishing it. Even your friend Roy said that he legitimately wants to help people - he has heart! So, I'll ask you again: what is your motivation for joining the guild?"

"I, uh..." I blew it. Now, I thought, I was just going to go back to living in my cave, feeling moderately worse about myself after spilling my emotions out like that.

...Until she grinned at me and said, "Don't look so frightened now! I was just pulling a little good-cop-bad-cop routine! Don't worry; you've got the job. You're officially - well, you _will_ officially be a rescuer with us once Devon and Eva evaluate your fighting skills."

"O-Okay, thanks," I stammered out.

The guild leader giggled. "Oh, I've done that with all the potential recruits! Tear 'em down and see how they react! Usually if they start getting defensive, that's a bad sign. Anyway, since you two're gonna be in a new team, we're also gonna need a team name at some point."

Roy and I looked at each other, neither of us clearly having expected to be asked for that.

"Don't worry," she said, "you don't need to come up with it right now! Just keep it in the back of your mind. And between you and me, the 'Team Lucario' and 'Team Ghost' we have right now aren't very creatively named, so you don't have a lot of competition.

"So, if you're ready, Luke, I'll hook you up with Devon and Eva for some sparring to see what you're like in a fight, okay?"

I nodded. "Thanks, Miss, uh Charizard?"

"Ruby," she smiled. "But everyone calls me Charizard anyway. It's a respect thing."

"Alright then," I said as we were led out into the main room. Charizard signaled something to the two others, who then approached us.

"I hear it went well?" Eva asked with her seemingly ever-present smile on her face. "Right this way!"

She led us into what must be some sort of training room. The floor was dirt rather than wood, the ceiling was high, and the whole room was quite a wide expanse, giving even the largest of pokémon ample space to fight. Of the two other doors in the room, one led outside and the other seemed to open into a storage space, which I could see as it had been left wide open.

"So," Eva said, "I'm pretty sure you've been told this already, but Devon and I are the best fighters here, so we can take a hit if you don't hold back. You're a hunter-gatherer, right? So just hit us like you're trying to drive someone back in the woods, and don't be afraid to hurt us! Devon'll be up first." On her cue, the lucario stepped in front of me and got in a battle stance, and I did likewise.

"You want to hit first," he said, "or shall I?"

"I'll let you go first," I said, keeping my eyes locked on him and watching closely. A moment later he had reached me - seemingly instantly after moving - and landed a hit on my shoulder. I recoiled, but composed myself and deflected his next strike. I stepped sideways, trying to get behind him, but he kept himself face-to-face with me. He threw a punch and I blocked; he tried to sweep-kick my legs out and I jumped over, but it couldn't be avoided that I was slowly being backed toward the wall. I tried retaliating with a punch, another punch, a similar sweep-kick, but all of my efforts got stopped.

My back touched the wall and Devon pinned me by throat - the match was over seconds after it began.

"Well," I said after being released, "that could have gone better for me."

"Don't worry about it," the lucario said with a hint of a smirk on his face. "I used some well-practiced tactics there. Hitting with an extremespeed attack first knocks the opponent off their game, and then I can just have my way with them

"You are definitely good defensively, though. You have good survival instincts."

"Nice!" Eva exclaimed as she emerged from the storage room. She was wielding some sort of wooden practice sword. "How about round two? We'll see how you cope with fighting something unusual!"

I got myself into a fighting stance again, beginning to actually get into the action, and without even a cue she came at me with the sword raised high. As she swung down, I reflexively swatted it out of the way and it clattered to the floor.

"Y'know, if that had been a real sword, I would'a chopped your hand in two there." She walked over to the sword and picked it up. "Wanna try again?"

I couldn't stop a grin from creeping up onto my face. "Again."

She charged toward me like she had last time, but I rolled to the side and got back on my feet. She turned to face me and prepared a slash; I kicked her leg out of the way before she could step toward me, but she repositioned herself before I could react and swung at me again. I ducked out of the way before summoning a grass knot and hopping back; however, it seemed she was wise to that as she took her next step carefully.

It was then that I realized I was once again backed up against the wall, and no sooner had I noticed that than Eva's sword was pressed up against my neck.

"I'll be the first to admit," she said, stepping away from me, "We mostly just do this with the new recruits for fun; it's not often we get to spar with new guys, after all. Well, at least the... three? Yeah, three people I've gotten to do it with since I joined... anyway, it's not all fun and games, we did learn something! We learned how you handle yourself: you're not the best at hitting, but you're good at dodging and defending yourself. And you can't beat us yet, but that much was assumed." She wore a teasing grin for that last part.

"Roy has been here at every opportunity he gets, though," Devon said. "He's really loving it. And if you don't want your teammate to be wildly ahead of you in fighting ability, you're going to have to keep training."

I honestly couldn't care less, but I decided against voicing that thought.

"So," I said, turning toward Roy, "it's getting kind of late, I'm pretty worn out from, well, all the events of today, why don't we call it a day?"

"Actually," Eva interjected, "I think Ruby wants to talk with you a little more - y'know, about the guild and everything."

"Okay, I'm guessing she's back in her office?" She nodded in confirmation.

* * *

"Okay then," the guild leader began. Roy had gone back to his quarters, as he had already been told this, so it was just the two of us. "Now... I know it doesn't really look like it, but we, as a guild, are in pretty dire straights - financially, that is. There's a guild not far from here run by an empoleon, and they often come out to our area to take missions - and that would be fine, save for the fact that they're just in it for the money, except it's driving us out of the water.

"Anyway - sorry, I got carried away there - the point is, we're not very well off, so each member is on their own when it comes to things like getting food, and as a result there's a lot of sharing of money that goes on to cover people who can't cover themselves. Plus, we have to at least have money on our minds when it comes to doing jobs, since we need to get by; that means no letting people off without payment, okay?"

"Okay. Is that all?"

"Yep! You're free to go back now."

"Alright, thank you."

As I left the office, it didn't take me very long to find the room where I'd be staying; the door was open and I could see Roy inside. I set my bag down on the floor, untied my cloak and dropped it on top, lied down on the free bed, and fell asleep, the fatigue I hadn't even realized I'd had overcoming me.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I'm trying to make fights seem realistic and less anime-y than pokémon battles usually are. Also, I made a cover which came out looking ridiculously edgy which I'll probably change because the story is never going to reach the level of edginess that the cover suggests. -w-


End file.
